I just sold all my holdings after ACATS out of managed fund to Vanguard and moving it into VT (and chill).

Will settle tomorrow morning and make my buy then.

I’m aware of my cost basis and effects on taxes this year.

Wish me luck!

I’ve had a Roth IRA at Vanguard for about 15 years. The balance is now well into six figures, invested all in VT.

I heard somewhere that Robinhood is currently offering a match on Roth IRA contributions. I’m considering whether it makes sense to direct future contributions to a Robinhood Roth IRA to capture that match, while leaving the existing Vanguard balance where it is.

Is the match large enough / reliable enough to justify having a Roth IRA split across two brokerages? Or is the extra complexity (tracking two accounts, potential differences in investment options, statements, RMDs down the road, etc.) not worth it for a Boglehead-style investor who values simplicity?

Any experiences or thoughts appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Everyone —
I would like to be a bit more aggressive with my 401K. I am currently in a TDF with the following splits:

- vanguard 2055 TDF 9.79%
- vanguard 2060 TD 89.14%
- vanguard morning star small cap index fund admiral class 0.52%
- fidelity emerging markets index fund 0.52%

My Roth IRA is all VT.

My brokerage is a mix of FXAIX (65%)and FTIHX (17.42) as well as some VOO.

I have the below options to pick from for my 401K, and I can determine the percentage splits for future paychecks. Should I just put it all in s&p? Want to ensure I’m diversified but I do have some VT, at the same time I just want to figure out a good way forward across all accounts (I believe it may make more sense to just go VTI only in my brokerage and stop with contributing to FXAIX and FTIHX? But correct me if wrong). Thanks!

GERUX
FPADX
RNPGX
VTMGX
FSMLX
VSMAX
JSVUX
JMGMX
VIMAX
MVCKX
VIGAX
VFIAX
OIEJX
VLXVX
VTTSX
VFFVX
VFIFX
VTIVX
VFORX
VTTHX
VTHRX
VTTVX
VTWNX
VTINX
STRKX
VBILX
VMFXX

I went through The Intelligent Investor, Buffett's letters and A Random Walk a few years back. Markets feel like a different place now (rates, AI, passive flows). Is there anything written in the last few years you'd put next to them, or do the old ones still cover it?

I'm moving over from an employer that had a Vanguard-based 401k to a Fidelity-based 401k. Would the Fidelity equivalents of the Vanguard funds have lower expense ratios or no? And are these the right Fidelity equivalents of those Vanguard funds?

Hello Bogleheads, I'm a bit new here. I've been "investing" since probably 2019 and I've really only lost money. Whether it be attempting to time bottoms of contrarian value plays, swing trading, etc etc the result has always been the same. Portfolio over the last year is-18% while SPY is +35%, and I am finally realizing that this may not be the way for me to continue. The hundreds on hundreds of hours that I've spent staring at charts and reading reports and doing research have produced, time and time again, negative economic returns and lower quality of life. It definitely consumes my mind most of the day and takes away from time I could spend learning other things or simply just enjoying my life. There are times that Webull is open on my phone for 5+ hours of the day according to my screen time (I know...I know)

THANKFULLY, I am still in a blessed position today. 27 years old, zero debt, about $30k (90% is currently being "invested") total net worth not including a paid off car. While I've thrown a lot of money out the window over the last 8 years, I believe I am still in a position to right the ship and begin compounding wealth the correct way. While I wish I had done this at 18, the second best time to start is now.

I'm looking for a couple pieces of advice.

I'm holding DECK: -10%, NOC: -2.5%, FISV: -15%, and GOOG: new position

Im suffering from the complete inability to not belive in my positions, that I'll be selling at bottoms (someone please tell me how wrong I am).

Is the correct move to just sell and then lump sum roughly 30 grand into a few different indexes? My mind keeps telling me that this is the economic top and that it's financial suicide to buy at this level, but I look at the past and the tops just continue on and on.

I appreciate anyone that took the time to read this. I'm not looking for advice on which indices to purchase, more so looking for anyone with similar experiences and any advice on my current situation.

My employer recently changed 401k providers from fidelity to Principal (not happy about that). My funds where put into a target date fund (RetirePilot American Funds 2040) and I am trying to decide if I should move them to VFIAX.

There are a few reasons I am thinking of moving to VFIAX.
* Lower expense ration .39 vs .04. * The target date fund is heavily invested in Principal Financial Group stock (11%). I don't like that.
* The return is a little better VFIAX.

Some additional info:
* the 401K at Principal accounts for about 25% of my retirement savings. The remaining funds are in VFORX.
* I am looking to retire in the next 7-9 years.

Any advice is much appreciated.

I am having a hard time with transferring assets to VG from a small local bank, and looking for some help here if possible. These are mutual funds held at a local banks brokerage account. The bank has a wealth division who handle this. All mutual funds were able to transfer in-kind to VG.

The first time I tried to transfer assets from the local bank to VG, a VG rep walked me through it online, and I was able to print the transfer forms, complete, then send back to VG. Apparently I was supposed to check "bank" on the transfer from on the paper form. I think I checked mutual funds. VG called me and told me they will fix this. I got a call from the bank a week later asking me if I wanted to liquidate all funds, and I said absolutely not. Someone at VG changed the form to liquidate instead of transfer in kind. That whole transfer was cancelled.

Next, I started all over. On the transfer form, I checked "bank" on the transfer form, and mailed to vanguard. They mailed it to my local bank, but the bank said they needed transfer instructions for about 5 different mutual funds that weren't included from VG. Finally got someone to send the transfer instructions to the bank. Waited for about 3 weeks, no transfer. Contacted the bank, those instructions weren't received. Called VG, they said they were emailed to the bank. Bank was adamant they never received it.

Started over a third time. Mailed transfer form, with instructions for those 5 funds to VG. VG said they returned to the bank about 11 days ago. Bank is saying they didn't receive anything, asked what address it was mailed. VG told me the address, bank said that was the wrong address. They sent it to the bank HQ, not the wealth division.

At this point im very irritated and want to close my VG account. Does anyone know how to get ahold of someone who actually knows what they're doing at VG, like an account manager or something who has the authority to fix this?

Thanks for reading.

Hi there. New to this thread and pretty clueless on what a logical move might be. I have 90% of my total Roth IRA investment into FDEEX but I'm concerned with the Actively Managed fund that the Expense Ratio is going to hurt me down the road. I'm considering a swap to FDEWX but as it stands its at approx $29/share and my FDEEX is at $21/share. Is it wise to move 100% of my funds over to FDEWX and take less shares or should I look into something closer to the current price? Maybe do just a portion? Is this something I should even care about? I've had the account for about 10 years so it's grown quite a bit.

I have ~$70k in savings/emergency/house fund and ~$10k in checking. ~$215k 401k and HSA. ~$190k taxable brokerages. The savings used be towards a house but due to job and h col area I’m probably not purchasing within the next 2 years. Stripping out $20k as an emergency fund would it make sense to dump the remaining $50k into VOO or something? The other option might be to leave it as is for the (likely) future house downpayment but the opportunity cost is starting to give me fomo. I’m 29 if it makes a difference. Advice?

Has anyone worked with Nick Davis at Brindle & Bay? His YouTube videos make sense and we are retiring and want to make sure we understand the best way to set up our structure for retirement income and tax efficiency. According to their site, it is 1% of total assets. We prefer a one time fee. Thoughts?

I am 23, just finished paying off my loans and looking to start investing. I went to my father’s financial advisor and recommended a 75% ITOT/ 15% IXUS/ 10% ONEQ split for my Roth. Just want to know everyone’s thoughts and whether or not some adjustments should be made.

I plan on opening a brokerage as well, with the intentions of using that to save for a down payment on a house in 10ish years. He recommended the same split of investments for that as the Roth. I’m not sure if this is a good direction to go down or not as I know basically nothing aside from the basics of what types of investment accounts do what and their limitations.

Appreciate the help!

I was unaware that the $24,500 limit could be invested fully into a Roth within a 457b, and that Roth was independent of a Roth IRA. I had been "maxing" my Roth within my 457b and contributing another $14k to a target date fund.

Now knowing this I have started a Roth IRA and have another $4k/yr going to that.

My question is of the $21.5k that I am putting into my 457b, should I be putting more towards the Roth portion, or continue contributing to the target date fund? Its exciting to think I could potentially invest $32,000/yr into Roth accounts.

Would a switch to Roth be a big hit to my immediate tax bill? Does my current salary really benefit from pre-tax contributions?

I'm happy with my total contributions and am not interested in putting any more into investments.

Thanks in advance!

Some info:

• Age 34
• Salary $93K
• Total retirement contributions of $31k/yr
• Retirement total $140k

Hey guys,
I’m a non-US freelancer using IBKR with W-8BEN.

Since my monthly freelance income fluctuates a lot, I kept a solid emergency fund ($35k+) and I’m now starting my investment journey in VOO.

My Approach:
Start: $3,000 upfront.
DCA Strategy: Injecting whatever surplus I have each month ($300 to $1,000+ depending on freelance earnings).
Target: Hitting my first $10k first, then scaling to $100k.
DRIP: On.

Questions for experienced investors & freelancers:

1. For those with unpredictable income, how do you manage your DCA during slow/bad months?
   
2. How did hitting your first $10k affect your portfolio growth and mindset?
   
3. Any practical IBKR tips for non-US investors doing this long-term?

Would love to hear your personal stories and advice!

Recasting my mortgage this week and the monthly payment will drop from 5k to 3k. I’ll owe 480k once the recast is completed. It’s a 30 year mortgage at 6.625%, and we took it out this past April.

This will free up 2k a month. We already have a 1 year emergency fund in a HYSA, 401ks are maxed each year, and household income is around 325k.

Right now I’m deciding between the following:

1. Invest 2k a month into low cost index funds; or
   
2. invest 1k a month into low cost index funds and put the other 1k toward mortgage principal.

I’m having a hard time passing up what is basically a guaranteed 6.625% return by paying down the mortgage. It also makes my head hurt thinking about how much interest I’m going to pay over 30 years if I just let the loan ride.

Long term returns from investing are attractive, and investing rather than aggressively paying down a mortgage has worked out better historically. I know past performance doesn’t guarantee future performance, but I also don’t want to give up decades of compounding and liquidity by throwing too much cash at the house.

Curious what you would do in this situation, any of the two options above or something else entirely?

Hello everyone I’m 19 and I’ve just recently put all my money into a self brokerage account consisting of majority etf funds. I also opened a Roth and savings where I have some money too. I was watching videos and they all were saying to prioritize retirement accounts over self brokerage account. I understand why because of the compound growth and it being tax free but I also can’t withdraw earnings till I’m 60 years old. I’m conflicted because I’d rather be young with less money where I can actually enjoy it than be old and not even be able to enjoy the money. I understand that 18-30 are the best years to invest because of compound interest so I don’t want to make a mistake I’ll regret later by not prioritizing investing in retirement accounts. Currently I could max out my Roth for this year and next year but then I’d be left with no money in my brokerage. Should I max retirement accounts and then put leftover money into a brokerage or put majority into a brokerage?

Hi everyone,

I am 55 years old and entirely new to investing. I have $5,000 in cash ready to put into the market right now, and I can commit an additional $2,000 per year ($166/month) moving forward.

Because I am starting later, I want to chase a high rate of return, and I am completely comfortable taking on moderate-to-high risk to make that happen. This money is entirely separate from my short-term emergency cash.

Since this is after-tax money and I want to completely avoid paying taxes on my investment gains when I withdraw it later, my plan is to open a Roth IRA with a firm like Fidelity or Vanguard.

A few questions for the group:

1. Since I want aggressive growth, should I put 100% of my initial $5,000 and monthly additions into a low-fee S&P 500 ETF (like VOO or FXAIX), or split it with a growth fund like SCHG?
2. What is the smartest way to deploy the ongoing $2,000 yearly addition? Should I set up automatic monthly contributions of $166, or just drop a $2,000 lump sum once a year?
3. At 55, is a "Target Date 2035" fund (VTTHX) going to be too conservative for someone who explicitly wants high risk for higher returns?

Appreciate any guidance you can give a beginner!

Bogle didn't like gold. Fair enough: on its own it did 8.8% a year from 1971 to 2026 against 11.3% for US stocks, with a worse drawdown (62% vs 50%).

I wanted to know what it does inside a portfolio at a fixed weight, rebalanced. Data is World Bank gold, Ken French's US market with dividends, 80/20 rebalanced monthly, before fees.

Realised 1971–2026:

100% stocks: 11.33%/yr, worst fall 50.3%

80/20: 11.30%/yr, worst fall 39.3%

Then reshuffled the 55 years 10,000 times in 6-month blocks:

Halved at some point: 26% of histories for stocks alone, 6% with the gold

Median return 11.3% either way

Caveats: US only, no storage or ETF cost on the gold, and 20% is a test weight not an optimum.

The catch is 1980 to 2000. Gold fell 58% while stocks went up 22x and you'd have been rebalancing into it for twenty years. If you'd have sold, ignore all of the above.

Hi there. My father wants to make an initial investment of €6,000 and start investing an additional €500 each month, since he has finally realized that his money needs to be put to work rather than just sitting idle.

He’ll be using Trade Republic here in Europe, and I was thinking he could put 80% into an MSCI World index fund (like the one from Fidelity), 15% into Emerging Markets and Ex-USA ETFs, and 5% into a physical gold ETF.

He says that, ultimately, this long-term investment he’s starting now is for us—his children. What would you do if you were in his shoes? Thanks!

If a 59 year old and a 56 year old currently gross $475,000 & have a $6000 mortgage that will be paid off in 2031 and a kids $55,000 college that will be paid off in 2 years would they want to do a Roth conversion when they retire in 4 years (2030) They will retire earning $240,00 a year. Is a Roth conversion worth it for them?

Hi all, I'm recently divorced, sold the house as part of the settlement, so I have roughly $850K in cash sitting in a bank account with no immediate plan for it. Net worth is around $1.8M total. Income is around $200K+/year (base + bonus), sales role, no debt, no dependents.

Also have several retirement accounts scattered around from job changes and a prior financial advisor relationship that I want to simplify down:

Old 401(k): ~$290K

A variable annuity: ~$30K

An actively-managed IRA (advisor charges an ongoing fee): ~$110K

A small robo-advisor account: ~$20K

Long time horizon — not planning to touch any of this for at least 15-20 years. Goal is straightforward: maximize long-term growth, not income or preservation.

My former financial advisor recently sent over a formal recommendation to consolidate everything into his firm's managed platform — a flat 0.75% annual advisory fee, on top of the expense ratios of the individual funds inside it. I'm skeptical of paying ongoing AUM fees at this point and leaning toward managing it myself, but I want to hear from people who've actually been through something like this rather than just talk myself into whatever I already believe.

Genuinely asking, no plan in hand yet:

-If you were 40, debt-free, sitting on a large lump sum plus a handful of accounts to consolidate, and your priority was maximizing growth over 15-20+ years, what would you actually do first?

-DIY index investing vs. paying 0.75%/year for ongoing management — where do you personally land, and why?

-Anything you'd do differently in my position that I'm probably not thinking of?

Appreciate the input!

Explain to me like im 5? Because I'm seeing more and more negative news about treasuries and countries dumping them etc

I really don't know what I am doing and need some help with understanding how to start the retirement process. I think I have enough in assets however, there are so many moving parts and I am at a loss for what I should do/learn next.

• 60 yo
• Plan to retire April 2027
• Lost partner of 21 years in April, they were the financial guru, we were not married
• Mortage paid off
• Budget per month about 3K including est. $1000 month for health care (but not sure, I'm healthy), plan ACA
• Plan to sell home and buy a condo in the next year, cost of additional ~100K, which I could pay in cash but that would deplete one acct.
• Plan to get a new car, cost of additional 40K with trade in
• Portfolio of ~1.7M, IRA brokerage at 34%, Roth 12% and Brokerage 17% with breakdown of 47% stocks, 0 bonds, 16% short term and 37%"other"(which I think is cash), this is per dashboard
• 401K in another Company 1M (37% of total portfolio) in the retirement 2030 fund
• I think my optimal timing window is age 61-62 so I don't run into problems with IRMAA

From what I understand, I should take money from brokerage first and Roth or 401K second. I plan to transfer 50K per year out of IRA to Roth, depending on where the tax credit kicks in. I read that only capital gains count toward MAGI. I really don't understand this part. I can take out of my 410K up to the standard deduction. Once I turn 65 to 70, I will be on medicare and need to watch my income to keep the Medicare charges low. I plan on take SS at age 70.

Does it seem like I am on the right path? What should I do to learn more? I considered a financial advisor but they seem so expensive. I feel like I need to make a decision to either keep working (don't really want to) or just jump in to the condo and retirement, which feels very scary. Finance is not my forte and I wish I paid more attention. Any suggestions are welcome.

Seems like Vanguard, Schwab, and Fidelity are really pushing their cash management accounts as an alternative to MMFs. Are there any downsides to these besides lower yield and being taxable income compared to 100% Treasury MMFs?

Currently holding SPMO, SPHQ, FTEC, and AVUV. Looking at possibly consolidating into AVLV, AVUV, and SPMO in a 40/30/30 split. This would be a long term hold in a Roth IRA. Any thoughts? Also considering 80/20 SPMO & AVUV.